DAY 112 TUESDAY JULY 14 - OLIVERA'S PARENTS

Olivera gave us a Serbian breakfast.  Malcolm needed a haircut and beard trim and there was a barber close by, so he told Olivera what the barber should do, Olivera told Igor (8 years old) in Serbian, and Igor took him by the hand and sat with him in the waiting room talking about the pictures in the Sport News.  Then Igor passed on the instructions and Malcolm got a very professional cut for 450 dinars (AUD6).  Malcolm negotiated the price up to 500 and Igor had some reservations about  Malcolm's maths.

Then Olivera and Igor walked us 200 meters to the preschool where she teaches.  It accommodates 700 children aged 1 to 5 years. Igor was a graduate of the school and was keen to show us around.

He is keen on scoring baskets, but the floor was slippery and he went over.

The facilities and programs are very impressive and supported strongly with government money.  But Olivera was not happy about the 20% salary cut the government brought in recently.

We had to register our whereabouts at the police station and found it was crowded and there was a queue for our procedure.  Olivera knew people who worked there which helped, but the lady clerk was keen to tell her that the Australian government had rejected her personal visa application for no good reason.  Australia is getting a bad reputation.

After lunch the five of us took two taxis to the bus station and caught the 1:50 Kimmel Bus to Kralevo (seven crowns).  There we met Olivera's mother Nada and her step-dad Nedjo, who made us feel very welcome. We also met Olivera's brother, his wife and their sons.  After the five hour bus trip Nada was ready to prove her reputation by providing a huge banquet for us, which we did justice to, but there is always 12 basketfuls left over. Just as we were about to leave the table she produced her masterpiece BACLAVA. This is Nada.

Nadjo and Olivera gave us a tour of their extensive gardens.  So much produce: lemons, pears, grapes, kiwi fruit in two sizes, blueberries, apples, capsicums, spinach, tomatoes, and more. There were five chooks all laying.

There was also a red rose which Lyn was presented with.

Igor participated in our first ever selfie on Nada's lounge. and posed with Lyn.